German accessory company Wunderlich showed a trio of heavily tricked out bikes at this year’s Intermot show. Our favorite is its BMW S1000RR “Poisoned Arrow” painted in the legendary Gulf racing colors. The bike features a long list of the company’s components including the PowerSportErgo handlebar conversion, VarioLever hand levers (adjustable), ActiveComfort SportErgo seat, DoubleBubble sports screen, tail piece conversion, aluminum license-plate mount and turn indicators with built-in rear/brake light functions, crash protectors, locking oil plug with cable-fastening fixture, “race” front turn indicator conversion, titanium SBK sports exhaust system and ECU Performance Controller.

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Winning at home in front of a partisan crowd is perhaps a racer’s most satisfying achievement. But it also must be one of the most pressure-filled situations that these athletes experience; especially when the race pits nation vs. nation for international bragging rights. 

For the 21st time in 64 years, Team USA secured the Chamberlin trophy at the Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado. Various hiccups along the way for the team, consisting of 2010 Supercross and Motocross champ Ryan Dungey, Andrew Short and Lites Motocross champion Trey Canard, saw them trailing Team Germany prior to that final race. 

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Well, we may have beat Suzuki to the punch by obtaining spy images of the all-new 2011 GSX-R600/750, but we thought you would like to see the design sketch that was released to us after the fact. Last week, Suzuki was caught testing in the California desert and Cycle World was lucky enough to obtain an image of the bike, confirming what was quickly becoming one of the worst-kept secrets of the new model year.

 As you can see from the design sketch and also from the photo, the GSX-R looks much slimmer with sharper styling and completely new bodywork. Stay tuned in the next couple weeks as we expect to get official photos, specifications and details on availability from Suzuki.

Max Biaggi can clinch the World Superbike title at Imola (Photo by Andrew Wheeler)

Max Biaggi and the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team can clinch the World Superbike title on Italian home soil at this weekend’s pair of races at Imola. With a 58 point lead over Suzuki Alstare’s Leon Haslam and a 49 point lead over Suzuki in the manufacturer’s standings, this weekend will likely determine the outcome of the two-horse race for the title. 

If the four-time 250cc Grand Prix world champ Biaggi falters, he will still have two more races to wrap things up in France at the final round at Magny-Cours. “At Imola I will be a reckless calculator,” Biaggi said. “I’ll battle without ever holding back but, at the same time, always bearing in mind the situation and the importance of every single point. Experience teaches me that, to win the World Championship, I need to be constantly focused, never leaving anything to chance. This is why, even more than the other weekends, it will be so important to find the best set-up right from first practice. Imola is a track with a few too many bumps, so we’ll have to work hard to stay in the positions that count.” 

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KTM's Tony Cairoli

Not to discount the talent from a large contingent of international riders that will converge on Lakewood, Colorado’s Thunder Valley, but two of the biggest hitters will likely not be competing. Due to a conflict over sponsorship space on the Italian team’s jerseys, it appears unlikely that neither Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s David Philippaerts nor Red Bull KTM’s Tony Cairoli will ride for their country. 

Apparently, discussions with the Italian Motorcycle Federation failed to come to a resolution, meaning that 2008 MX1 champ Philippaerts and reigning MX1 World Champion Cairoli (presently 3rd and 1st in the 2010 standings respectively) will not be on the team. Both riders are available for selection, but both Yamaha and KTM are refusing to allow the two to compete unless sponsor space is made available for each manufacturer’s name on the front of the team jerseys. 

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Cernicky on the 2011 KX450F (photo by Jeff Allen)

The Cycle World staff including Mark Cernicky, photographer Jeff Allen and I, were invited out to Racetown 395 in Adelanto, California, yesterday to ride the 2011 KX450F. Here are our first impressions: 

Racetown’s perfectly prepped track offered lots of soft soil to test the big KX’s power. We were quite impressed with the linear nature of the engine’s delivery. It offers smooth power without an overly aggressive hit when ridden in the standard ECU setting. Revised fuel-injection response was excellent. Top-end power is very good, too. 

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Okay, voting about issues that you know nothing about isn’t really smart, but passing on your right to vote altogether, is just lame. But when it comes to motorcycle-related issues one can get completely lost in the jumble. The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) recently announced its online voter guide that was designed to educate AMA members on how their elected officials acted and voted on motorcycle-related issues. 

The guide features a fuel-gauge rating for every federal and gubernatorial candidate of the major political parties who returned an AMA questionnaire. The rating shows how closely the candidate’s opinions mirror those held by the AMA, spelling out where they stand on motorcycle-related issues. 

“As a nonpartisan organization, the AMA does not endorse political candidates” said Ed Moreland, AMA senior vice president for government relations. “”However, we encourage our members to cast their ballots based on candidates’ positions on motorcycling-related issues, as well as other issues of importance to them. AMA members have long sought a voter guide, and we certainly hope they will take a hard look at our 2010 AMA Voter Guide to see where their candidates stand on issues important to the future of motorcycling before ultimately casting their votes.” 

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2011 Husqvarna WR300

If you’re a diehard two-stroke lover, Husqvarna has added two more two-strokes to its 2011 lineup, which includes the previously announced WR150. Joining the smallest WR are the WR250 and WR300 enduro machines.

With lessons learned from its involvement in the World Enduro Championship, Husky has revised these models for 2011. New graphics, bodywork, integrated LED taillight and the reinforced headlight/number plate are obvious, but a new Ducati Energia ignition improves power delivery, while revised suspension settings (based on the works bikes of riders like Antoine Meo) and improved airboxes have improved overall performance.

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2011 Honda CRF450R

American Honda has released information on the first of its planned 2011 rollouts. As is usually the case this early in the cycle, the first bikes announced are dirtbikes. Topping the list is a new CRF450R, which received updates to the engine to broaden its powerband with more bottom- to midrange power. Additionally, a new throttle body is used for improved engine response. A redesigned muffler has a quieter 94-dB sound rating, which is required by various racing organizations. Tweaks were made to suspension for improved ride quality and better rear-wheel traction. The CRF450R will be available in October for $8199.

The CRF250R ($7199) Lites classer gets a new Honda Progressive Steering Damper (HPSD) and new suspension settings front and rear. Changes were made to the tuning of its engine to improve bottom- to midrange power output, as well; it also gets a quieter 94-dB muffler. Other bikes released include the CRF70F ($1899) and CR50F ($1499) playbikes.

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848EVO Dark

Ducati has announced a new seriously hopped-up version of its middleweight sportbike contender called the 848EVO. This model was created to homologate the bike for AMA Daytona SportBike competition, in addition to answering consumer demand for a higher-spec version of the 848. 

The 848EVO is powered by a Testastretta Evoluzione engine, which received new cylinder heads, pistons, throttle bodies and camshafts for a claimed output of 140hp at 10,500 rpm and 72.3 ft.-lb. of torque at 9,750 rpm. 

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A year after importing just five 2010 models, including the RM-Z250, RM-Z450 and RMX450Z, RM85 and GZ250, American Suzuki announced that it will be importing ten 2011 models. This is still less than 25 percent of the 45 models that the company brought into the U.S. for the 2009 model year (including scooters), but it definitely shows that the market is improving.

According to sources at Suzuki, the situation is market-driven at this point. The company is likely to add more models to the list of 2011s, but that is dependent on the remaining 2009 inventories selling through. As of this writing, Suzuki has announced plans to import the V-Strom 650 ABS, DR650SE, DR-Z400S, Hayabusa (pictured), RM-Z250, RM-Z450, TU250, Boulevard S40, Boulevard M109R and Boulevard M109R Limited.

Broc Glover. Photo by Scott Cox

This summer’s X Games 16 will bring motorcycle racing back to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum July 29 through 31 with Moto X Super X. Men’s, women’s and adaptive athlete classes will be included. If you’ve never seen Supercross at the stadium it’s well worth the $16 ticket price. 

The first ever Super Bowl of Motocross took place at the L.A. Coliseum in July of 1972, with Marty Tripes taking the first win in the then-new sport in front of 28,000 fans. The rest, as they say, is history.

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Blow out!

No, we aren’t having issues with the latest sticky-as-glue tires mounted up to the hottest 180-hp superbike we’re testing, and no, we’re not shedding knobbies from our MX rim skins either. But Off-Road Editor Ryan Dudek, Associate Editor Mark Cernicky and I did lose out on a great day of motocross testing at Zaca Station north of Santa Barbara, California, because our Cycle World box truck decided to eat one of its tires for an early breakfast at 5 a.m. as we headed up L.A.’s infamous 405 freeway.

If you follow Formula 1 car racing, you are definitely familiar with the frequent tire delaminations that rip zillion-dollar carbon-fiber aerodynamic pieces to shreds, while slapping the wafer-thin suspension pieces to bits as drivers try to circulate back to the pits for a swap.

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Yann Bakonyi's early illustration of what the Tiger 825 might look like.

Triumph is back in the adventure bike game with two new models that will be announced later this year. Teaser videos can be seen at Triumph’s micro site triumphadventure.com. What we can tell you is that the bike/bikes in the video clearly sound like that marvelous Triple soundtrack that Triumph lovers have become so fond of. Rumors of a new Tiger 825 started a while back, which we recently reported on right here at cycleworld.com.

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